Sheeple

I came across this term recently and it made me laugh. It really did. It is a term that is to describe people who blindly follow going only on what they are told.

It's used in the mudslinging that goes on in the Natural vs Hospital birthing wars. The people who blindly follow OB's are 'Sheeple' and the people who blindly follow Midwives are in with the 'Woo'.

'Woo'? Really?  That is a much less fun and less creative sounding name. More like 'WooHoo' but anyways.

So, because my mind works the way it does, I hear the term 'sheeple' and I instantly start humming, then singing:
 "Baaaaaaa....Look at all the Lonely Sheeple."

I have issues and I even have my own group of scientists working to solve them, until then.

This term is a fantastic one because unlike the not so fun sounding 'Woo', it can be used to describe anyone! If you blindly follow anything without any real cognitive thought process, you are a sheeple.  If you just listen to one radio broadcaster, watch one news station, read one news website and completely and utterly trust what is told to you 100% of the time, you might be a sheeple.  If anything now I have a new word in my dictionary to use.


 back to my song now.

Seven Minute Frosting

Otherwise known as stand at your stove for seven minutes over a boiling double boiler full of a meringue style frosting while using your hand mixer on med-power until it's done.

I would like to know what creative home-maker or chef decided that having a plastic mixer with a also plastic cord near your stove, that is on med-high temps, was a good idea. I would also like to know what other insane ideas they came up with and how many times the fires had to be put out.

If the dang stuff didn't taste so awesome, I wouldn't risk the fire hazard.

God might love you, but I think you're an idiot.

I used to think that statement was funny, because of the number of people I had come across that
I actually felt that way about.
Not so much anymore.

Our society has turned into a blunt, rude, and sarcastic tidal wave. What people used to think, they now say or post online.  With the fantastic cover of Anon we feel we can state exactly what we are thinking without any real consequences. Covers such as "In my honest opinion (imho)" , "Just sayin'....", "Not to be rude..",  and  "I'm sorry, but.." have become so commonly used that they no longer really mean what they used to. They are mostly covers to try to take the blow out of the words that are to follow. They are used in bullying attacks online and in real life.

What ever happened to just letting someone have their opinions? Why are we so determined that WE have to prove THEM wrong? To prove my point, rather than arguing till the cows come home and beyond with my friends about politics, we just steer clear of things that we know are real hot issues. How I feel about our president is different than how my friends and family may feel. Instead we just find common fighting ground to vent our frustrations over. Such as parenting or idiotic laws.

 I could argue until I'm blue in the face to prove my point and all it will do if create a gap that could do severe harm to our friendship, especially if the above phrases are used.

So why is it ok to say these things to people we don't even know? When did we lose our manners? People who used to silently judge people who breastfed or bottle fed are now going up to those parents and stating that you are doing it wrong and they think you are a failure because of such and such. Proving our own superiority as parents in a unimportant contest is absurd.
Then we are the now belittled parent are scrambling for a rebuttal that is usually just as rude. Thus starting the mommy wars, which in the end just causes lost  friendships, hurt feelings and a sudden sense of failure.

Yes, there are parents out in the world that are 'doing it wrong' and are 'epic fails' in the grand scheme of common sense. Such as the mother I saw the other day at my son's school, the car seat straps were way too loose and twisted.  But as horrible as the next sentence is going to sound, this is something that she has to learn herself. Me saying something at that moment, yes, it might of brought her attention to the seriousness of the issue. But it would of also embarrassed her in front of all the other parents and it could of caused a much larger scene than the bit of helpful advice it would of been meant as.
I didn't want that for me or for her.

And this brings up my other point. Because of all this needless mudslinging online, simple things meant to be helpful are brushed aside or taken as a personal attack. I have had many helpful comments be taken the wrong way and had it turned on me with me feeling embarrassed, hurt, or angry at myself for wanting to even offer help. "See if I ever do THAT again."  This is a dangerous, dangerous threshold to crossover into. This leaves stranded motorists helpless because no one will stop in their aid and others who are in sincere need of help, helpless. Because no one wants to be that person who is filmed and posted on YouTube or made into a meme that goes viral online, all because of a failed attempt at help. There are some out there who are strong enough to continue to keep attempting to help, but eventually even they will be burned too many times and stop. Especially if it is just them that are trying to help.

Cold

The recent  changes in my Lupus symptoms, I have to say are downright irritating and annoying. 

This past summer I was able to shed quite a bit of weight to help with caring for myself.  Under my Dr. supervision, I started running and even got myself up to the distance of 10miles. Then winter hit and I found myself unable to cope with the dip in temperatures.  Anyone who knows me knows that I have never been a fan of socks and slippers, but now I cannot do without both. My feet turn white and purplish if I do not have on either two pairs of socks with slippers over top. I have invested in wool and fleece socks for the first time in the history of my life. It's not only my feet that are affected, my hands go numb easily and also turn white. I also am now the owner of fleece pj's and go to bed wearing socks with them. 

My toes in particular have been affected for the worse. If I do not wear my millions of layers, I noticed that I started to get purple dots on them. They also are MUCH more sensitive than they used to be. Stubbing a toe  isn't pleasant in the first place but I was usually over it in about a minute. Now, it's as though my toe has broken. I spend the good part of five minutes rubbing and soothing my throbbing digit. It's not pleasant. At my most recent visit to my Dr, I pointed out my mysterious dots. He sighed and stated that this is a common symptom with Lupus and Reyes syndromes. It has an old name "Chillbains" or "Chilblains".  But it is basically cold blisters that form on the feet due to poor circulation. There isn't a treatment just for it, other than keeping your toes warm.  It can lead to nerve damage and eventually amputation if not taken care of properly. Hooray. I was prescribed a high blood pressure medication to help open my blood vessels up to help with the poor circulation. I also inquired if there was a vitamin I could take to help with it that I could try first. Since I have always had low blood pressure, the idea of taking high blood pressure medicine makes me nervous.  I have added L-Carnitine to my vitamin regimen and am waiting patiently to see if it is going to help. I have also been drinking Licorice Root Tea and Burdock Root Tea in the hopes of something working. 

Heavy medications make me nervous for all sorts of reasons and they are all listed in the Side-effects.  Most of the ones prescribed for Lupus patients have "may be linked to some forms of cancer" and "stroke or heart attack" in the listing. No thanks, don't feel like dancing with death today, not while I have small children anyway. 

Then there is my "mask".  I'm not sure if it is linked to my new circulation issues or to my being in the sun a lot over the summer, but I now have a very very apparent Lupus mask that butterflies on my face. It is my diet indicator now. If I have dairy or sugar it puffs out, little tiny pimples appear and it itches like mad. I basically want to rip my own face off. This has made it very hard to wear makeup (not that I was big on it anyway) to hide it a little, even the most natural and sensitive skin brands still cause inflammation and burning.  I have to hunt and bounce between sensitive skin lotions. And I now only use glycerin soap to wash my face with. Anything else dries it out or irritates it making it worse. So, even though I was never much of one for makeup and dressing up, the option is completely gone. I guess that's alright, that takes time and patience that I never really had when I was doing it. There is nothing that I can take that will treat this. Staying out of direct sunlight and wearing sunblock are all the treatments listed. The trouble is, I like to be outside when it's nice and (like with the makeups and skin creams) there isn't a sunblock I have found yet that my face can handle. Since I don't want to be a hermit and live in a dark cave, I will keep hunting and carry on. 

I'm sorry........what?

There has been a story going around online about a teen mother who was denied access to a room to pump for a her baby while at school.  (Gratefully the school has decided to create a place for her to pump in reaction to this story's publicity.) Click here for the blog.

What bothered me the most about this wasn't that she was a teen mother nor that she was denied somewhere to pump. It was the attitude of some mothers stating that she should be allowed to nurse her baby in class while at school.

What?

Apparently these people have forgotten what it's like in High School. Granted this new mom now hopefully has a different view of her body after having a baby, but she is in a school filled with hormonal teenagers.  How horribly awkward would it be to try nursing in a class half filled with horny boys who keep leering at you in the hopes of seeing a nipple?  That and nursing a baby while multi-tasking isn't easy. The baby might be still now while it's small, but that doesn't mean a bout of colic isn't going to happen or that she is going to be able to take notes that are legible at the same time.
Frankly, if the teacher cannot nurse her baby while teaching, then the student can't either.

Whatever area that is designated for teachers to pump and store while they are teaching, should be also accessible to the student. It is a work place and work places should have an area open for use that is private for mother's to do this.

I'm not going to touch the issue of her being a sophomore. I could barely talk to boys in 10th grade, let alone do the deed with them.  But this does bring up more issues.  Teenage girls think babies are cute. We have seen them on talk shows and (sadly) on Maury, toting around a baby doll and admitting to having unprotected sex just to have a baby.  Yes, babies are cute. They are supposed to be so they will get the attention they need to survive.  To me there just seems to be a lot lacking in the parenting world since this is happening more and more often.  There is even a show dedicated to it and the stars appear on the front of US and People magazine.  Talking about it with our kids is awkward. BEYOND awkward. But we have to talk to them about it, it's our job as parents to help our kids not get themselves into a huge mess that could effect the rest of their lives.

An interview with actor William H. Macy got me thinking.  Sex is locked up behind an R rating and yet it is something that is natural and (for some people) happens on a daily basis. Yet, guns appear in PG movies that we allow our kids to watch. I'm not saying that I think sex should be in PG movies, but in light of how more kids are shooting each other in recent history, it does make one wonder.

Interview below; for full interview ---> The Guardian

Do you think society today places too much emphasis on sex? 1) Or do we deny it too much?

Yes and yes. I don't know about Great Britain but I think America has got it pretty well bollocksed up. And I think our films have a lot to do with our views about sexuality, and I think we're ill-served by our ratings board, who need to get into therapy, in my opinion. We're so accepting of violence – ugly, ugly, ugly violence and we let our children watch it. I don't let my kids (2)watch it. And yet we are allergic to sex. And I don't know much but I know this: violence is bad and sex is good. Even the bad sex I've had was pretty good. But violence is bad – it's always bad, there are no exceptions. It's bad. And it's ugly and we've got to paint it as it is.

Uh huh.

As an actor I don't want any censorship of any kind but I think we can hold the film industry to a higher standard. If we're going to have violence let's tell the truth about it. It makes me disgusted when I see the hero get the crap kicked out of him and he's making love in the next scene. If you're going to kick the crap our of your hero then have him stay beat up. Tell the truth about it. And this film (3) tells the truth about it. It's people with real disabilities and sex – what could make an audience more uncomfortable? And yet the result of the film is that you love being human; you love humanity, you feel good about yourself at the end of it.

What do you think the effect is on society of these distorted set of values?

You have priests molesting children. You've got Jeffrey Dahmer. You've got a huge porn industry. You've got people going to their grave unfulfilled. You've got husbands and wives torturing each other because we can't talk about anything and we can't be honest about it.

So ... a pretty big effect, then.

It's a huge part of being alive. They say that young kids, especially boys, are thinking about it every four seconds, or something like that. They think about sex more than they think about food. Our normal way of suppressing it does not work. It doesn't work at all. I mean with the amount of crap we've had laid on our shoulders from our parents about our sexuality, it's a wonder we can function at all.